Underhanded Methods

"Can you update me on the situation?" Leonardo asked in his usual flat tone, his eyes no longer crimson red but midnight black. He stood straight with his arms crossed to his chest, coldly watching as hundreds of thousands of people trapped his city within their encirclement.

"After Pandora and the rest brought you back, everything was calm for a while. However, two weeks later, the armies of the remaining three provinces decided to take the initiative and bring the battlefield to our territory instead. That way, if your subordinates went all out with large-scale attacks, it'd threaten your people's livelihoods."

"They hoped to indirectly hold your people hostage. Sadly, they never expected that we have constructed such a powerful formation, and their siege had lasted ever since then. As time passed on, more and more soldiers began to pour in from the various provinces under the guise of conscripted citizens, and after four months, this is the result."